Hi,
I lived in Australia as a student for 2019 and 2020. During this time I declared myself as an Australian tax resident, since I was living in the same place in Australia for those two years and matched the resides test. However, I have just realised that I would probably count as a tax resident of NZ during that time since I returned there after my studies, which would cause me to be a foreign resident in Australia due to the tiebreaker in the DTA between the two countries. Due to being a foreign resident, I should have paid a larger amount of tax for the about 7k I made from tutoring and bank interest during that time. I would like to correct my Australian tax return, but I understand 2019 and 2020 are outside of the amendment time period, and I would need to file an objection. I am currently in the process of searching for a tax agent to help me with this. Should I be doing anything else to help resolve this? I'm panicking about this and just want to do the right thing to correct my accidental mistake in the past by paying back the tax shortfall (along with interest and penalties).
I also have a followup question. I returned to Australia in 2023 to live and work fulltime, with the intention to stay here in the future. Due to this I'm in a confusing situation where I'm not sure if the tiebreak in the DTA favours me being a tax resident of Australia or NZ. I am trying to get advice from a tax agent to get clarity on this. In the meantime, would it make sense for me to declare myself as a foreign resident in Australia so I pay the maximum amount of tax possible, to avoid potential tax residency related issues?
Thank you for your help.
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